The Rhineland 1945

On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops marched into the Rhineland and other regions along the Rhine. This was the first of the aggressive military actions of Nazi Germany, the seeds of WWII began to be planted here. Some 9 years later in what was known as the last great 'stand-up fight' of the Second World War the battle for the Rhineland was brutal in the extreme. Eisenhower's 'broad front' policy called for the whole of the Rhineland to be taken before pushing his troops across the Rhine and into Germany itself. The Germans opened the Roer dams in a vain bid to temper this massive Allied offensive and this called for a drastic change in tactics. The ensuing battle was characterised by amphibious assaults on the fortified villages of the flooded Rhine lowlands, frontal assaults on the much vaunted Siegfried Line and the grim fighting for the Reichswald Forest. It was to be the last great killing ground in the west. This book, as usual with the Campaign series, analyse commanders, the planing, equipments and the armies, before and during the battle and it tells the story from both sides, attacker and defender. Full color 3-D ‘bird’s-eye-views’, battle scenes, soldiers or equipment drawings and maps as well as black and white photographs that support's the text. This book shows that although the outcome of the war was obvious at this stage, moving inside Germany, meant that the German defenses would now be closer to their weapons supplies, and above all, instead of being demoralized, fanatic actions would multiply.